112 India’s common Emergency Number from 1st Jan 2017

Starting from 1st January 2017 just a single number is sufficient for all the emergency needs. i.e. 112. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Central Telecom Minster has approved the proposal of maintaining a single toll-free number for emergencies. We can treat it as the US’s emergency number 911.

Right now, in India, we have to dial 100 to get help from the police, 101 for the Fire Department support and 108 for Ambulance. Remembering various emergency numbers is a tough task for the illiterates.

Once 112 commenced, anybody can benefit from it even though their SIM card was blocked or outgoing facility has been suspended. When you called the 112 number, it will redirect you to the concerned department to get help.

After the 112 number came into action, all the existing emergency numbers will be stopped in coming one year period. During this migration period, cellphone operators have to redirect 100, 101, 102, 108 calls to the newly created 112 number.

Not only the new emergency number, but IT & Telecom ministry is also making it mandatory to equip built-in GPS system for all the phones in India from 1st Jan 2018. The measures that were taken by the Govt. of India definitely will help people in emergency situations.